jasimon wrote:The initial squad is locked in at 23:59 AEST Friday July 1.That is also when you get your initial allocation of transfers to use.You have until 18:01 AEST Saturday July 2 to make any transfers you want to be effective for the first stage that is run that night.

And you are right that you will want to make a bunch of transfers in that window. But, given the profile of the first stage, it is not obvious that Mark Cavendish is one of those... although after the TTT is another matter.

I would add: The initial squad is locked in at 23:59 AEST Friday July 1, or whenever you submit your team after this point.

jasimon wrote:A question for anyone who wants to offer their opinions and potentially improve the chances of their competitors:

Who will earn more points (including GC final standing points): Christian Vandevelde or (the average of) Andre Greipel/Gerald Ciolek/JJ Rojas?

Looking at Nick's team I see which way he is leaning... anyone else?

Here is my thoughts - interested to know what other people think. Must admit hadn't been considering VDV in start team.

Vandevelde could pay off nicely with a good tour, both with placings in stages and at the end; but he hasn't finished 3 of the last 5 grand tours he has started (in fact not got past stage three for each of them).

Greipel seems to have the reputation of being one of the best three or four straight out sprinters, but he is unproven in tdf, and this is not a great set of sprints for the gorilla, and it hasn't been his best year. He is third leader at OLO and might not get preference for assistance.

Ciolek has been consistent in the sprinter points for Milram, a team where he was the clear team sprint lead. Quickstep team objective is stage wins with just about everyone in their team on different stage types. In terms of sprinters they also have Boonen (hasn't had much luck at tdf lately, but also only seems to try if he thinks he can win) and Steegmans - I think Ciolek is second in line behind Boonen. Again, haven't seen good form. Having said that he might just keep popping up like he usually does.

Rojas has also been a consistent points gatherer over the last couple of years. The recent traumas at Movistar are well documented although JJ beat Contador at Spanish nationals road last weekend. Movistar have also stated team objective of stage wins - they have another sprinter - Ventoso, who I believe is a bit quicker on the flat than JJ, so it is unclear how that will play out. I would like to think that JJ will be going for green...

Who will earn more points is not determined yet (funnily enough) and I think any of these four could get the most - just have to try to assess the chance of it happening for each of them.

Vandevelde has the advantage of being cheap - just like the sprinters mentioned - but uniquely for a GC contender. That really helps with budget constraints. But I think he would earn more GC points than stage points.

Now that you mention it - they all seem to have challengers for sprint team leader. But do any of them have a solid train and leadout designation like HTC for Cav? If not it could still work out if the teams are covering their bases rather than putting all their eggs in one basket. For points I'd be happy if the teams were going for double threat rather than a train. Mark Renshaw never earned a lot of points even though he likely could have if he was going for it.

I think I preferred ignorance - too many questions lead to too much double guessing.

Two options: 1) You submitted your team after the deadline for stage one (6pm July 2 AEST) or 2) Your team was/is incomplete (including bonus stage and bonus team) and hasn't officially been submitted as a result.

I note a few teams that haven't scored any points for the first round because they haven't been completed.

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